voice whipped out from the shade of the corridor as Nicola reached for the door handle of the home gym. She jumped, spun and then pressed her back to the wall and clutched her chest. ‘Cade!’
She tried to catch her breath. Not always easy around Cade and his watchful blue eyes. ‘Do you make a habit of sneaking up on a body like that?’
Those eyes twinkled. ‘Well, it’s got to be said—nice body.’ His glance was almost a caress. Her legs went soft and rubbery. ‘But I didn’t sneak up. I’ve been waiting here for you.’
She moistened her lips. ‘Why?’
‘Because a little bird told me that most afternoons when you put the children down for a nap, you head on straight down here.’
‘Do you mind?’ Maybe he’d had second thoughts about letting her use his ex-wife’s equipment. Maybe he wanted to keep the ghosts from his past quiet. Maybe he wanted to simply keep that door closed for good.
‘I don’t mind at all.’
She scratched her head. ‘Did you want me to help put up more Christmas lights or something?’ She brightened at that thought. Climbing ladders would be far more preferable to a stint on a rowing machine.
He leaned against the wall opposite, arms folded, and somehow it only emphasized the breadth of his shoulders. ‘Be honest. Do you enjoy using the gym?’
‘Enjoy?’ She snorted before she could successfully remind herself that snorting is for pigs, Nicola Ann. ‘Look, I thought we’d established that me and exercise were never going to enjoy each other’s company.’
‘You enjoy riding.’
‘That’s not exercise. Well,’ she amended, ‘it probably is for Scarlett, but not for me. It’s fun.’
‘It tones and strengthens thigh and calf muscles and it improves balance. Of course it’s exercise.’
She tapped the gym door. ‘I may not like it, but this is doing me good. I can run for ten straight minutes at six point five kilometres per hour on the treadmill now. I could barely manage three minutes when I started.’
‘And the rowing machine?’
Her lip curled. She hated the rowing machine. Oh, who was she trying to kid? She hated that entire gym, but no pain …
‘I thought you might like to give something else a try.’
‘Like?’
His mouth curled up. ‘Don’t trust me, huh? I’m the guy that got you hooked on riding, remember?’
He was also the guy who’d kissed her with a thoroughness that still had her waking up in the middle of the night. A whole host of images assaulted her—a whole variety of ways to get some additional exercise.
She backed up a step, pointed down the corridor behind her. ‘I’m nearby if one of the children wakes up.’
‘I asked Dee to keep an ear out for them over the next hour.’ He frowned suddenly. ‘I don’t want you becoming Dee’s drudge. Those boys are a handful.’
She snorted again. And then winced. She really had to get better at curbing that habit. ‘They’re great fun and I am in no danger of becoming a drudge. Lord, your mother, sister and housekeeper all help so much with the children that some days I feel I’m hardly pulling my weight.’
He snorted in the exact same fashion. She couldn’t help noticing that he didn’t sound like a pig. ‘Not pulling your weight? You keep everything running like clockwork. It’d all be a shambles if you weren’t here.’ He sobered. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Ella and Holly so carefree and excited. I’m glad you came to stay.’
At his words, her chin lifted and her shoulders went back. She had to blink hard a couple of times. ‘I’m glad I came to stay too.’
‘Does that mean you’re willing to risk life and limb to try out a new form of exercise?’
She gave in. The siren call of the rowing machine just wasn’t loud enough. It couldn’t compete with Cade’s grin … or her own curiosity.
Without another word, she nodded and followed him.
A few moments later they stood in a cleared space in the barn. When Cade held out a pair of boxing gloves to her, she frowned, blinked and then put her hands behind her back. ‘No way.’
‘These are boxing gloves, Nicola,’ he started patiently.
‘I know what they are. And I repeat, no way.’
He stared at her with pursed lips.
‘I’ve seen Rocky.’ She hitched up her chin. ‘I saw what happened to some of those guys in the ring, and they were fit! There’s no way on God’s green I’m going to let you hit me, regardless of what tripe you give me about how soft those gloves are. So I repeat, no way.’
He grinned so suddenly the impact was nearly physical. She planted her feet in an effort to counter it.
‘I won’t be hitting you, Nicola. You’ll be hitting me.’ He smirked. ‘Or at least trying to.’
Her eyes narrowed at that. She hauled her hands from behind her back and took the gloves. He smirked again, insufferably superior, as she pulled them on. ‘It’s just possible that I may grow to enjoy this as much as riding Scarlett,’ she warned him.
‘I’m counting on it,’ he said, sliding his hands into thick square mitts that had even more padding than her gloves.
‘Ah, so you won’t be wholly unprotected, then?’
‘Nope, which is just as well when the woman I’m about to face has such a martial light in her eye.’
That made her laugh. When he squared up to her and ordered her to show him what she had, though, she found it curiously difficult to do as he asked.
He lowered his protective mitts. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘It just seems wrong to hit you. Terribly impolite and … well, violent.’
‘Pretend I’m that rowing machine.’ He squared up again. ‘Hit me in the middle of my left mitt.’
She did.
He lowered his hands and glared. ‘Put some oomph into it!’
‘I don’t want to hurt you.’
‘Honey, that’ll be the day.’
That patronising ‘honey’ set her teeth on edge.
‘Boxing, when it’s done right, is an excellent cardiovascular workout. And it’s a good way of getting rid of pent-up tension.’
‘I don’t have any pent-up tension,’ she managed between gritted teeth.
‘Really?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘What did your mother say when you
